St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-17
Mount VerI


The CONSERVATION that this sinister proc
lamation created in the peaceful and con-
servatiye circles Of Mount Vernon can
scarcely be appreciated in wicked metrop-
oils. A meeting of the supervisors was in
stantly called, and the president of the
Village" as Mr.. Cunning styles him.
declared that he would instantly go out and
reason with Mr.. Cunning, whose previous
eccentricities led everybody to expect Bed
lam let loose on this occasion. The super
ViSors refused to authorize him, however.
1t happened that yesterday was election
day ill Mount Vernon, when the destinies
OF the town were to be potently affected by
the choice Of a supervisor, town clerk,
and a constable. Consequently inc super
visors, fearing that their president would
utilize the barbecue for political purposes,
ming received him politely, said he was an
alien, knew little about politics and cared
less, and was going to have barbecue be-
cause he liked 'en.
His preparations were of two widely diff
ferent kinds. The first related to the re
ception and entertainment of his guests;
the second to the defense of his wife and
household against them. He began by
chartering all the horses, carriages. trucks
and furniture vans in Mount Vernon.
There are only two livery establishments
there, and he paid them 500 apiece. The
opposing candidates flew to him in Despair
declaring that they must have some vehicle
for election purposes. 1t made no differs
ence to HIM. He needed them for his
guests.
For the barbecue he bought 200 loaves of
bread dozen boxes of cakes, $50 gallons
OF whisky, barrel of Jamaica rum and
forty gallons of brandy. A portion of this
he had made into forty gallons of milk
punch. He had an OK slaughtered which,
when dressed, weighed 720 pounds. He
further, in order that music might lend its
sensuOuS sOftneSS to the scene purchased
100 tin horns. Then he had the large
coach house cleared and everything made
ready.
TO defend his house from his guests he
first carefully inspected the arsenal, which
consists of four Winchester rifles and two
siX-shooters. Then he had all the doors
and windows barricaded except the back
door, which he used for exit and entrance
during the gladstone merrymaking. He
planned that Mrs. Gunnison and the maids
should take refuge in the tower, which is a
rectangular observatory on the top of the
country house, and which overlooks the
scene. Not satisfied with this he modified
his troops by organizing pitchfork bri
gade. For three hours Sunday afternoon
he had six of his men. three of them Ger
mans who had served in the German army,
and one of them Hungarian of bellicose eX-
perience. standing in line in the barnyard
armed with pitchforks and learning the
pitchfOrk drill. His cOachman was form
,,,lx, i,,f ho SIxyfan I ,rt,f
with them in Zululand. He superintendent
the lancers manual of thrust, parry and
the laternal movements until Mr.. Cunning
was satisfied with their proficiency.
The only cloud that married the prepare
tions, was the sudden discovery Sunday ev-
ening at dinner-time that nobody knew
how to barbecue an OK. Nothing dsmayed.
Mr.. Gunnison undertook it. He always ar
rays himself in evening dress for dining,
and consequently he wore on evening dress
when the difficulty was announced. He
put on first ''pouOhO." which is fiery
red blanket with black border, and has
hole cut in it to put ones head through.
With this over his dress-Suit and crushed
hat on, he went out to the barn-yard. had
an oven built next the stone fence and a
fire lighted which soon made bed of
coke Goals. Then lie caused pole to be
thrust through the OK, which was placed
over the Goals. All night long the enthu-
siastic hosts superintendent the roasting.
At 9 O'clock yesterday morning the guests
began to arrive. The house was barricaded
and the wife and maids were safely in the
tower.
Il had no fears at first. he said last even
ing, ''but after they got started | was
deathly afraid they would set the place on
fire. Instead of 100, 500 men appeared.
The coach-house was crammed. The OK,
which was brought in on the shoulders of
eight men, received some perfunetory at
tention, but not much. The barrels of
whisky were preached. and the fun began.
Norman A. Lawlor, Mr.. Cummings attor-
ney. made speech of welcome, which was
enthusiastically applauded in the interjec-
tons of all languages. for all natienalities
were represented. They came from the
highways and the byways, and they reseled..
G. H. Cameron. a real estate dealer, tried
to talk, but created little interest. The
liquor question was the absorbing topic of
discussion. Whisky flowed in rivers. They
gulped it down from dippers, buckets and
pans. The more they gulped the more they
yelled. Every man who thought lie could
sing tried to. The common ambition was
to make noise. When the tin horns were
passed around the roof began to loosen. In
dignant artists overlooked in the distribu-
ton raided the Farmhouse and converted the
milk mans into drums. which they ham